Attempts have been undertaken to develop effective personal self-defense devices for untrained individuals believing that such protection is necessary. Tear gas cartridges, sold under the trademark MACE, have become commonplace in our society, and may be purchased at hardware and drug stores in many jurisdictions. Additionally, lesser known devices employing tear gas substitutes such as ammonia or red pepper have been invented. Although these particular devices are purported to be effective in deterring crime directed toward an individual, including: robbery, rape, mayhem, kidnapping, and murder, the crime rate continues to soar.
In the District of Columbia alone this past year, over four hundred murders occurred. It has been reported that in only fifty percent of the murder cases investigated by District police were arrests of a suspect made, and in approximately fifty percent of the cases where an arrest was made were criminal convictions obtained and the guilty party sent to prison. It can be seen that even if the collective criminal justice systems for the remaining portion of the United States functioned with twice the efficiency in obtaining criminal convictions as that of the District of Columbia, clearly only a fraction of those individuals committing serious crime are being removed from society as a punishment for their criminal actions.
A major problem faced by prosecutors in obtaining convictions is the fact that the victim is usually the only witness to the crime and physical evidence establishing the presence of the defendant at the crime scene is often minimal at best. It has been found to be highly advantageous to have a self-defense device capable of assisting police and witnesses in identifying a criminal assailant at a later time. Tear gas does irritate the skin somewhat, causing a minimal skin reddening effect, but the effect is not long lasting and varies between individuals. Self-defense devices which include dyes, however, can be helpful in permitting authorities to identify the assailant, particularly if captured recently after the attack.
Personal self-defense devices containing tear gas and other lachrymal agents are likely to escalate many encounters. It is not improbable that unskilled users will incorrectly deploy the device and miss, or only partially strike, their assailant. The assailant then, in retaliation or self-defense, may choose to utilize a weapon such as a gun against original victim rather than flee as intended. Additionally, such devices lack retaining means for preventing their unauthorized removal from the victim's person as with a sharp blow. Under such circumstances, it is possible that the device could come within the possession of the attacker and who may utilize such to incapacitate the original user.
A self-defense device utilizing a non-toxic dye agent is believed to afford the optimum protection to a potential attack victim. Accuracy of aim is not critical with such a device as any contact of the colored spray will mark the potential assailant for later identification. When sprayed onto an assailant's body or clothing, many dying agents deposit a stain that cannot be removed without repeated washing. Furthermore, devices containing only dye agents are unlikely to cause serious bodily injury to small children who happen to encounter such when unattended unlike devices containing lachrymal agents, odor agents, and the like.